He lacked sufficient votes to suspend the rules and stop the work on the route Monday. It will take three readings of specific ordinances over the next three days to make that happen.

Even then, whether the stop button can be pushed is not certain as the We Believe Cincinnati legal team meets Monday night to review strategy.

During the discussion those on both sides of the streetcar struggle learned that the actual daily spending is double what was thought.

Project Executive John Deatrick pegs it at $100,000 a day.

That’s $3 million per month instead of $1.5 million.

Much of the talk has been about a 30-day pause to consider what the cost numbers actually are.

Ryan Messer, who has emerged as a resident-level leader of the effort to save the project, told council it should not take 30 days to get an answer. He suggested a 48-hour pause and a fast, thorough, independent study much like is done in the big business world.

The start of the Cranley-created Streetcar Committee was on full public display.

Some council members questioned whether it was even duly constituted and said there didn’t appear to be any rules laid out for the process.

The new mayor called the grousing a deliberate attempt to try to roadblock the effort to rein in spending.

“Everyone on this council knows we’re going to be voting on ordinances to suspend the streetcar. It’s clear,” Cranley said.

What’s not completely clear is whether it will cost a lot more to cancel than complete, a lot less, or if it’s essentially a wash.

In a pause-equals-death environment, there’s urgency about getting to a consensus on accurate numbers.

Messer tried a second time to get the divided council to come together on a new front.

“Just take 36, 48 hours, whatever it takes to get a company in here to do an independent number and then just make a fact-based decision,” Messer said.

Eleven ordinances have been trotted out to reverse money appropriated for streetcar spending on utility work, the contract with CAF, consulting costs, and the agreement with construction companies.

As evening arrived, a new wrinkle developed.

Attorney Paul DeMarco sent a letter to solicitor John Curp questioning whether streetcar opponent Chris Smitherman has a conflict of interest and should be at least temporarily prohibited from voting on the ordinances.

“I think emotions are running high on a very controversial issue and that’s playing out in various ways,” city councilman P.G. Sittenfeld said.

The Federal Transportation Administration has frozen city access to federal funds for the Streetcar project.

John Deatrick estimated the track construction is just about 15 percent complete and reminded everyone that if the work is stopped, a decision must be made about expenses to repair the torn-up streets, fill holes, and redo curbs and sidewalks.

It appears it will take two more days of procedural maneuvering to score enough votes to pull the plug on spending for the project.

Whether a ballot drive is still a viable option is something the legal team of streetcar supporters will review Monday night.

As things stand currently, none of the new council members have changed their mind about pausing the work. That means a majority directive to do so would come Wednesday.

Deatrick said if council directs work to stop, “We would stop the work immediately.”

Another streetcar meeting is scheduled for Tuesday. The final vote will take place on Wednesday.